In Cooperstown, there sits one of the longest running and busiest craft breweries in the state: Brewery Ommegang.
“At our highest, we could pump out 10,000 bottles a day, and they were doing it five days a week, so 50,000 bottles is a good number,” said Ommegang Head Brewer Justin Lottridge.
Ommegang has become a recognizable brand not only upstate, but throughout the Northeast. Opening their doors in 1997, the Belgian brewery’s growth has taken off since their first pour.
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“To see it grow is kind of a dream come true. You’re looking for something like this the whole time you’re a kid,” Lottridge said. “It’s like you know, I did something right.”
These days, Ommegang is broadening its horizons, testing out new beers and continuing to roll out cases of everyone’s favorites.
But how do they stand out in a now more crowded field?
According to the New York State Brewers Association, in-state breweries grew from 95 a decade ago to 495 in 2021, making New York the nation’s third-largest beer-producing state with an economic impact of $5.4 billion. Per Empire State Development, New York is No. 2 in the nation in number of breweries, topped only by California.
“The hard part is with all the new beers. We’ve got to keep the new people interested and stay with the trends,” Lottridge said. “It’s not easy, but once you get there, it’s never boring.”
In Buffalo, a city experiencing its own rebirth since its early industry days, one brew house is getting a second life thanks to craft brewing.
“As a history lover, a Buffalo history lover, going into an old brewery was like the top of the mountain for me,” said Buffalo Brewing Company Founder John Domres. “I wanted to be in an old, historic brewery, resurrect it and hopefully bring a neighborhood back with it.”
The Schreiber Brewing facility dates back to 1899, but for the last few years, the building sat empty until Domres saw it as an opportunity to expand.
“We basically knew right away that we needed more space,” he said. “For example, our building is 1,200 square feet. This room that we are in is 5,000 square feet. This building as a whole is 38,000 square feet. So it gives a little bit of what we are going to do here.”
The building will house the second location for Buffalo Brewing Company, which has already had to expand its original location four times to accommodate its quick success.
“I think it’ll be the culmination of my hard work here at Buffalo Brewing Company. This will be our last expansion project. We’re designing this brewery to be it,” Domres said. “It’s the final stop on Buffalo Brewing Company’s train, so to speak, until the second generation takes over, which will be my two boys.”
In Halfmoon, Other One Brewing has been establishing its roots and hoppy beers for the last four months.
“It’s been really good,” co-founder Randy Lewis said. “Locals here, we’ve had a lot of them come in. They’re so glad that we’re here, yet there’s still a lot of people that don’t know us.”
Four neighbors, brought together first by the proximity of their houses, but later on their passion for brews, founded Other One. Soon, their COVID-19 project turned into dream bigger than a two-car garage, opening their own brewery.
“I’ve always dreamt of doing this for the last 10 or 15 years. So it was either I talk about it all the time and it’s time to do it, or just stop talking about it,” Lewis said. “But this place here fell into our laps. So it was a perfect opportunity.”
Now four months in, they’ve hit the ground running.
It’s every day that there’s breweries opening up all across the country and especially in New York state,” Lewis said. “As long as the people will come out and support it, I think there’s definitely a great opportunity for it.”